HONG KONG - The central and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region governments expressed firm opposition to and strong condemnation of the remarks by US Consul General in Hong Kong Gregory May during an online seminar.

He made reckless comments on judicial cases in the HKSAR and blatantly supported Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and other anti-China rioters in Hong Kong during the seminar of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, interfering in China's internal affairs, including Hong Kong affairs.

The judiciary's fair trial and punishment of a handful of anti-China rioters in Hong Kong and elimination of national security risks corresponds to people's will and occurs at the right time, the spokesperson said

Certain anti-China organizations and politicians in the West are deeply upset about Hong Kong's shift from chaos to stability and prosperity, and in the name of academic discussion, they have been intervening and wantonly smearing the political democracy, judicial justice as well as human rights and freedom in Hong Kong, which is neither objective nor fair, said a spokesperson for the Commissioner's Office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong SAR.

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The central government has been fully, accurately and faithfully implementing the principles of "one country, two systems," Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong and a high degree of autonomy, the spokesperson said, noting that since Hong Kong's return to its motherland 27 years ago, the practice of "one country, two systems" has scored universally recognized success.

With the national security law in Hong Kong and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance in place, Hong Kong's political democracy has been continuously improved, its freedom and human rights been fully protected, its economy recovered steadily, and its society is in good order, the spokesperson said.

The judiciary's fair trial and punishment of a handful of anti-China rioters in Hong Kong and elimination of national security risks corresponds to people's will and occurs at the right time, the spokesperson said.

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Hong Kong has currently started a new chapter from stability to prosperity, and has entered a new stage of all-out economic development, which renders all external interference futile, the spokesperson said, urging the United States to recognize the reality as soon as possible, reposition itself in the right place, refrain from stoking trouble or crossing the line, and take concrete actions to return to the right path of promoting the sound and stable development of China-US relations.

Slanders and smears

​In a statement issued on Friday night, the Hong Kong SAR government also strongly deplored and opposed May’s biased remarks about the situation in the city and the slanders and smears against the HKSAR's work in safeguarding national security

An HKSAR government spokesman said the US side has ignored the “large-scale and incessant riots during the 'color revolution' in Hong Kong that occurred in 2019 which devastated our society, livelihood and economy”.

The spokesman said the US side claimed that it wished to “stabilize the relationship”, but on the other hand, it “frequently smeared the law enforcement actions conducted by the HKSAR” while its suggestion that certain persons should be “immune from legal sanctions for their illegal acts and activities is totally contrary to the spirit of the rule of law"

“It ignored the fact that it is an international practice and an inherent right and responsibility for sovereign state to enact laws safeguarding national security. It blatantly attacked the HKSAR in safeguarding national security dutifully, faithfully and in accordance with the law,” the spokesman said.

“Such positions fully exposed the US' double standards. The HKSAR government urges the US to discern the fact that the Hong Kong National Security Law has enabled the livelihood and economic activities of the Hong Kong community at large to resume as normal," he added.

The spokesman said the US side claimed that it wished to “stabilize the relationship”, but on the other hand, it “frequently smeared the law enforcement actions conducted by the HKSAR” while its suggestion that certain persons should be “immune from legal sanctions for their illegal acts and activities is totally contrary to the spirit of the rule of law".

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As for the economic and trade cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between Hong Kong and the US that May mentioned, the spokesman said the US enjoys significant economic benefit in Hong Kong, with more than 1,200 US companies having set up businesses in the city.

It also enjoyed a trade surplus of $271.5 billion with Hong Kong in the past 10 years, the largest among its global trading partners, the spokesman said.

“The US should take concrete actions to stop all wrongdoings that undermine Hong Kong-US economic and trade relations, and make efforts to foster mutual benefit between the two places in various areas, including promoting economic and trade relations and cultural exchanges," he added.

With Xinhua inputs